Arsenal overcome signs of ‘weaknesses’ in latest statement victory as Arteta’s stand-ins prove worth | OneFootball

Arsenal’s trip to Slavia Prague was set up to expose their “weaknesses”, but their emphatic response is bad news for Liverpool and Manchester City.

Mikel Arteta promised an “interesting game” as his side visited Czechia to face Slavia Prague in their fourth Champions League group game, and the backdrop of this match certainly suggested that this could be the case.

No matter the opposition, an away game in Europe is rarely simple, and Slavia Prague, at least for a little bit, asked questions of Arsenal on Tuesday night.

Inspired by a passionate home atmosphere, Slavia Prague had Arsenal on the back foot in the opening 15 minutes as they adopted an aggressive man-to-man approach.

Arsenal’s best XI have proved time and time again that they no longer crumble in these game situations, but it was their B team tasked with standing firm this time around as Arteta chose to rest and rotate.

Arteta somewhat had his hands forced, with Viktor Gyokeres, Gabriel Martinelli, Noni Madueke, Kai Havertz, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus among those absent due to injury, while Martin Zubimendi was suspended.

But the timing of Arteta’s decision to keep the “right freshness” in his squad was right on Tuesday evening, with Piero Hincapie, Christian Norgaard and Ethan Nwaneri handed rare starts as Arsenal headed into Tuesday’s clash with a perfect group record.

Speaking pre-match, Slavia Prague coach Jindrich Trpisovsky gushed over Arsenal having a team with the “best sporting level” and “no weaknesses”, with their immense strength in depth one of their strongest qualities.

Arsenal appear to have reached their final form as their £250m summer spend to land all of their top transfer targets afforded Arteta a complete squad with quality options in every position, with this the first true indication of their ludicrous breadth of options.

The first 15 minutes against Slavia Prague gave Arsenal’s Premier League title rivals hope that there are weak spots to exploit when Arteta’s side are injury-impacted and targeted by intense pressing, while attacking areas became overcrowded at times due to their fluidity in the absence of their “flat-track bully” up front.

But Liverpool and Manchester City would have been clutching at straws, just as we were, while desperately searching for an Arsenal weakness to spark a proper title race, with all of their naysayers silenced as Arteta’s much-changed team wrestled control of the match and utterly dominated for the final three quarters of Tuesday’s game.

There was a feeling of inevitability about this game’s outcome once Arsenal racked up attempts at goal and set-pieces from the 20th minute, with the result beyond doubt once Bukayo Saka broke the deadlock via a penalty shortly after the half-hour mark.

Captain Lukas Provod was punished for touching the ball with a raised hand, and Saka clinically converted into the bottom corner before stand-in striker Mikel Merino eradicated Slavia Prague’s remaining optimism less than a minute after the interval.

Merino has done a bloody good job whenever he’s been asked to fill in as a No.9 and has proven to be a great finisher, though the Spaniard’s task this time was made easier by a pinpoint cross by Leandro Trossard and a lack of close markers in the penalty area.

He later had a second as he beat goalkeeper Jakub Markovic, who was made to look rather silly in no man’s land, to Declan Rice’s deep cross from midfield to head home with a cute flick.

As is the case with Arsenal, it was all that she wrote at 1-0, but their later goals ensured they made their latest statement in a game set up to expose their weaknesses, which this inevitable lot do not appear to have as they kept yet another clean sheet and did not face a shot on target until late on.